A Year In Review

I was so passionate about some of the sermons I’ve listened to and books I’ve read over the past year that I decided to make a recap of them all. As passionate as I am about some of these, and as easy as I forget things, it’s been a good reminder to go back and re-read everything I have posted. It ended up being a lot more work than I thought, but what a great reminder of what God is teaching us as we continue to wait. Below are very high level summaries of the following posts related to sermons and books.

God’s School of FaithWe learn to have faith when everything is going against us and all we have is God’s promise. We learn to pray when we have nowhere to go. We learn a testimony when we go through such a struggle, which we can then share with others.

There is always a purpose behind waitingThere are always lessons to be learned in waiting. Waiting on God requires absolute trust. What God does in us is always more important than what we are waiting for. Waiting humbles us and makes our attitude the same of Jesus. Waiting on Waiting on God changes us. There is always a blessing when He brings you through it.

Can You See God During Difficult Times?Don’t wait for perfect conditionsConcentrate on what you do haveDon’t be swayed by public opinion Jesus hears the cries of desperate peopleFollow Jesus when times turn good

Joyful No Matter WhatWe all have a what and don’t understand the whyGod always has a why behind the what. I don’t have to understand the why to trust God in the what

Two questions to ask when life is hard:1 – Now what?2 – So What?

When you recognize what doesn’t matter, you can focus on what does matter.

God lifted him out of his despairGod set his feet on a rockGod gave him a firm place to standGod put a new song of praise in his mouth

Often blessings cannot be received unless we go through the trial of waiting.

Waiting RoomSometimes even though our waiting rooms seem pointless or painful they can turn into God’s most productive workroom.

How can we change our waiting room into a workroom?1 – Resist the urge to complain and instead fill your situation with praise. Let your pain trigger a praise as you position yourself to let God work on you while you wait2 – Preoccupy yourself with fufilling God’s purpose rather than escaping your problem. Embrace the time you have now and stop wishing for the next thing.Enjoy the journey

Suffering isn’t a sign that God has left you.Often when things look like they are going the most wrong, God is doing the most good.For every evil, God promises to be with you, hurt with you, and heal with you as you go through it.God works all things for good, even in the suffering.Everything has to happen how it happens for things to work out how God intends.The God who wills evil to happen is the same God who promises to be with you during the suffering.During suffering, you can choose to run to God or run away from God.When you can’t understand what God is doing, look at what he has already done.You see more of Jesus when you suffer.

Waiting on GodWhat we need are eyes to see and ears to hear how the Lord is leading us, as we trust Him for the future.We receive deep within ourselves the hard lessons of desert wandering along with the bright hope of a promised deliverer.Just as we know the sun will rise without fail every dawn, we can fully trust the love of God in moments of darkness.A seed of promise may be planted, and although it remains buried and invisible for an indefinite period, it can be watered through prayer until the sprout breaks through the surface

With Wings Like EaglesWe can put our hope in the Lord and and expect that his promise of strength will help us to rise above our trials

What is Between Ask and Receive?So often as Christians, we pray prayers and when they aren’t answered right away we begin to grow weary and impatient. What we don’t understand as humans is when we pray for one specific thing, God does 10,000 things to answer our prayer. So while we are waiting, we need to keep walking, because while we are praying for one thing (a baby), God is doing 10,000 to make the one thing happen.

He is sovereign over everything, even our time and schedules. He is more interested in developing character than He is in making sure our schedules run according to plans. It’s during even the small delays that He teaches us obedience, patience, faith, an effective prayer life, and peace all while we rest in His sovereignty.

Don’t Give UpIt’s a daily commitment to look towards God for peace and strength. Not once a year, or weekly, but daily. When we look to Him, the author of our lives, He gives us strength. He renews us. He gives us strength. He lifts us up with wings like eagles.

When What I Want and What God Wants collidesIt’s clear that when we seek God wholeheartedly, He will close doors. But, as many times as He says no, it won’t even compare to the amount of times He tells us yes. We must have an attitude and perspective like David. When God closes doors, we need to praise Him. What if we asked “why me”? every time God blesses us, instead of only asking “why me”? every time He says no? We shouldn’t blame Him for the bad things, but instead give Him glory for the good things.

3 Comments

Hi from ICLW. This is an amazing post, I am in awe of all that you have studied throughout the year about God’s faithfulness and waiting. I’m definitely going to come back and read your individual posts on the subjects. Congrats too on your hubby coming home soon! -Erin loveismultiplied.blogspot.com